When it comes to Christmas lights, I prefer white lights outside and colorful lights on our Christmas tree. My favorite exterior holiday decor is the twinkling Christmas garland I hang around the top of our porch every year. Hanging the cedar garland and Christmas lights is really easy and I am breaking it all down for you in the tutorial below!
Table of Contents
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- How to Hang Christmas Garland Outside
- 1 | Measure the Porch
- 2 | Add Nails Sporadically
- 3 | Start Hanging Garland in the Center of the Porch
- 4 | Attach Garland to the Nail using Wire
- 5 | Plug in Your Lights and Enjoy!
- Materials to Hang Christmas Garland
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How to Hang Christmas Garland Outside
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For a complete list of project materials, scroll to the bottom of the post.
1 | Measure the Porch
Use a tape measure to determine the approximate length of garland needed. If you want the Christmas garland to hang down, don’t forget to factor that into your total number.
2 | Add Nails Sporadically
Before hanging the Christmas garland, I hammered a few brad nails sporadically around the back of the porch trim where I want them to hang. I do like to add a brad nail at the center of the porch because that is where I prefer to begin hanging the garland. I like to have the greenery hanging down from behind the porch trim, so I attach it to the back.
3 | Start Hanging Garland in the Center of the Porch
Over the years, I have tried a few ways of hanging the garland, but beginning in the center makes the most sense to me. I also like to have the garland tighter to the porch trim with greenery hanging down, but you can also swag the garland if you prefer that look.
The cedar garland I purchased from Costco is 25 feet each and I grabbed four. Three for the porch and one for the carriage door that would frame the entrance and hang to the ground. I also had four strands of Christmas lights, one for each garland strand.
Firstly, I unrolled the cedar garland and found the center point. Then I found the center point of the strand of Christmas lights and wrapped it around the garland a few times.
4 | Attach Garland to the Nail using Wire
I took the center of the cedar garland and Christmas lights and attached them to the center of the porch wrapping wire around the nail.
Once the center was securely attached, I attached one side of the garland, wrapping the lights as I went, and then followed the same process on the other side.
When I came to the end of the first garland strand, I attached the next strand and followed the same process. I removed the leftover Christmas garland at the end and used it to fill in any bare spots or will use it to decorate inside.
5 | Plug in Your Lights and Enjoy!
In most cases, you will need an extension cord to plug in your Christmas lights. If you have an outlet right where your garland begins or ends, consider yourself lucky. Take a step back and admire your charming Christmas garland with festive twinkling lights!
Materials to Hang Christmas Garland
- Garland (30′ option)- I used 100′ for the porch and our carriage door and had a little leftover
- Brad nails
- Hammer
- Wire
- Christmas lights – I used 4 strands (one for the carriage door and three for the porch)
- Extension cord (if needed)
- Scissors
- Foot stool
- Tape Measure
